- Glad the Pens fought back to get a point. Other than the two "first goals as Pens", not really much else to highlight from this match- Rust was good, great jump and its too bad he was not on the 1st line from the start. Maybe that's HCMS's plan, drop guys from 1st line, get them pumped, re-insert - Bluegar should not be the guy to sit when Malkin or ZAR come back. He's outplaying a few other guys and deserves his shot- Dragon finally breathes fire, loved the big arms up cele. Could the nickname come from the wingspan which was enormous when he had his arms wings in cele- McCann looks like a Penguin player, fast, grinding, get shots on and defensively responsible. I think he's going to continue to grow on this team- Is there a coach who looks worse in a suit than Bob Boughner? Seriously dude, get a tailor and a stylist please. Add the tan in with the nose.... mobster - In the "trade matchup", I thought the two new Pens outshone the new Panthers- A 95% splits save attempt was not enough on the Panthers first goal. Not sure I'd put my privates down there to stop that shot either DeSmith was okay.

Same old, same old. Pens coast most of the game. Lots of lazy turnovers. The effort was not good enough. PP is not getting it done. PK not getting it done. Do the Pens actually play a structured game??? I don't see anything that looks like a breakout. We seem to have no plan in the offensive zone. Watching other teams perform controlled breakouts and easily march up the ice and gain the zone is something we might want to look into. DeSmith was fine. Kessel should be ashamed because he just lost his man in OT. It didn't seem like he cared to play D. He's a great offensive talent that has the ability to win games by himself in OT, but it seems that he is out there when we give up OT goals. There really wasn't much to build off of from this game. I still expect us to smash TB cause that is just what we do.

- I thought DeSmith played fine last night. He was all over the ice but he was battling. The difference between him and Murray is after a big save, DeSmith pops right up, even after the play is dead. Murray will lay there and get up slowly like he just fought off an army by himself. The body language is clear even for a TV audience. - The team needs Geno. Plain and Simple. We are not a team built to play without our superstars, and Geno is our 2nd best superstar. Hope he gets better soon.- I love Kessel and do not want him traded etc. BUT that play in OT was pure ****. I don't know what he was doing. He was directing people to cover people and then let his guy slide right by him. Bad. We should not play man in OT.- I have no idea why we are playing Bjugstad on Sid's wing. Ugh. Brassard is like WTH! - It is going to be close this year, but if we can get our injured players back soon I think we will be ok. However, missing the playoffs and being the 8th seed is the same thing. Tampa is so dominant right now the only chance is that they get beat up in a round or 2 before we see them.

FLPensFan wrote:2018 - The year of fatigue2019 - The year of not getting to our game and executing.

Really tired of the same excuses over and over again.

Hey it isn't March yet still time for us to hit that pervebial switch and step up our game. Or maybe it's time for Rutherford to make a big trade and move one of the core players.

I guess you weren't informed that this year, the proverbial switch is a dimmer switch, controlled by a 5 year old who constantly likes to turn it back and forth, but whose hands are too small to turn the dial all the way up.

Maybe they should seriously think about not putting Kessel out there for the 3 v 3 overtimes, or put him out with two other guys who are defensive minded to cover up his mistakes of not picking up his man time and time again.

FLPensFan wrote:2018 - The year of fatigue2019 - The year of not getting to our game and executing.

Really tired of the same excuses over and over again.

Hey it isn't March yet still time for us to hit that pervebial switch and step up our game. Or maybe it's time for Rutherford to make a big trade and move one of the core players.

I thought it was coming this past offseason, the lack of energy and focus has carried over to this season.

I think it's time to make a significant trade to shake up this team. You can't keep switching coaches to fix the issue, at some point the players need to be held accountable for their performance. I'm not sure if you can do it before the deadline but I would entertain offers for Kessel and see if I could get two younger more complete players to fit Sullivan's system.

Offensively, they played the first 45 minutes like they were working on new lines.

Phil, very charitable to let the new guy score in overtime, but you should be able to expose Luongo on a shot attempt.

Third defenseman in overtime, Jack Johnson. Wonderful. You have to assume he’s out because he is defensively responsible. So why is he crashing the net in the offensive zone? Still would take my chances with future healthy scratch- Riikola.

Sheahan and Brassard played like they just left hockey hell and wanted to prove something.

Rust was very noticeable. Simon- not so much. Hornqvist had a pulse, just nothing to show for it.

At some point, maybe Kessel figures out he should shoot the puck from 15 feet out rather than make a highlight reel pass. 2 golden opportunities on successive shifts totally wasted. If you going to be a complete liability defensively, you may want to score a goal.

Sullivan is still killing this team. If we miss the playoffs I’d fire him. That kind of failure is inexcusable for this roster. He’s said this is the best core he’s been around so if that’s true he’s the problem and if the team sucks he’s a horrible judge in talent. Either way get lost.

Yup. This team has issues in its roster but the complete level it puts up is inexcusable given the talent. That's on the coach. How many more trades until it supposedly isn't on Sullivan? What have we allowed? 50 SHG? What's our record against the worst teams in the league? 1-12? This team is ugly and boring to watch on the nights it doesn't decide to show up, which is about 3 out of 4. I know that fans know nothing and the GM and coach etc are infallible and all but still....

Antonio wrote:Yup. This team has issues in its roster but the complete level it puts up is inexcusable given the talent. That's on the coach. How many more trades until it supposedly isn't on Sullivan? What have we allowed? 50 SHG? What's our record against the worst teams in the league? 1-12? This team is ugly and boring to watch on the nights it doesn't decide to show up, which is about 3 out of 4. I know that fans know nothing and the GM and coach etc are infallible and all but still....

So how does firing the coach hold the players accountable for their lousy effort? Start moving out some of the most egregious offenders and bring in people that want to play.

This game was lost on the blown 5 on 3 PP. This team is and has been terrible in "special situations" 5 on 3, pulling goalie when down and even scoring into an empty net. It's absolutely maddening to watch.

Antonio wrote:Yup. This team has issues in its roster but the complete level it puts up is inexcusable given the talent. That's on the coach. How many more trades until it supposedly isn't on Sullivan? What have we allowed? 50 SHG? What's our record against the worst teams in the league? 1-12? This team is ugly and boring to watch on the nights it doesn't decide to show up, which is about 3 out of 4. I know that fans know nothing and the GM and coach etc are infallible and all but still....

So how does firing the coach hold the players accountable for their lousy effort? Start moving out some of the most egregious offenders and bring in people that want to play.

The answer to me lies somewhere in-between.

Sullivan and GMJR need to stop pretending Johnson is actually good. He has his ok nights, but, most nights.....he isn't very good. They have to be willing to sit him in the press box and take a look at possible d-pairings without Johnson. Maatta isn't too far behind, honestly. I've looked at his numbers, and he gives Johnson a run for his money on many nights. Playing both of them in the lineup just ends up destroying two pairings. The Penguins can really only afford to have one of these two dressed on any given night. Until the Penguins see that, expect continued problems on defense.

Cullen has no future with this team. Wilson SHOULD have no future with this team. Sullivan and GMJR need to stop acting like these two are the best 4th liners in the world. That doesn't mean they need to sit every game, but, it does mean they should be sitting sometimes as a healthy scratch. When ZAR is healthy, there isn't a good reason why Wilson should play over ZAR. Wilson is a career fringe player who can't put the puck in the net. ZAR is physical, plays well defensively, and can produce offense. There's no need to sit ZAR over Wilson. Blueger has played extremely well. He's likely to fall off a bit, but, Blueger should be here to stay, and should be able to rotate with Cullen as the 4C. Blueger figures to be on this team next year. Let's continue getting him playing time to improve him at this level, for this year and future years.

This team has changed out Sprong, Oleksiak, Brassard, Sheahan and Hagelin. That's essentially a quarter of the roster. They've added Pettersson, McCann, Bjugstad, and Pearson, plus guys like Blueger that have stepped in part time. If the the effort and compete isn't there still, you need to be staring down the Kessels, Hornqvists, Rusts, Malkins, etc, and it may be time for a bigger shakeup move.

But, we've been hearing the need more compete, better execution lines since November. It's farcical at this point. If the GM and management like the coach, and the team isn't playing for the coach, they may need to think about rebuilding the team. And we all know they are too stubborn to do that.

Columbus 3rd in the Metro, tied with Pittsburgh but with a game in hand.Carolina wins again tonight, and is now 1 point behind Pittsburgh for the 2nd WC spot. PIT has a game in hand on CAR.

Penguins need to find themselves quickly, or they are going to be working to get back into the playoffs very soon. I don't think Sullivan needs to be fired at all, but, this team slips out of a playoff spot even for a few days.....in February.....heads are going to roll somewhere.

Antonio wrote:Yup. This team has issues in its roster but the complete level it puts up is inexcusable given the talent. That's on the coach. How many more trades until it supposedly isn't on Sullivan? What have we allowed? 50 SHG? What's our record against the worst teams in the league? 1-12? This team is ugly and boring to watch on the nights it doesn't decide to show up, which is about 3 out of 4. I know that fans know nothing and the GM and coach etc are infallible and all but still....

So how does firing the coach hold the players accountable for their lousy effort? Start moving out some of the most egregious offenders and bring in people that want to play.

This is my take. I've always hated firing the coach when it is clearly the players who are the issue. Sully is the best coach we've had since Badger/Bowman. I'd rather ship out some players than fire him.

What exactly is so great about him? His constant line blenders? The atrocious pp defense? The idiotic refusal to stop playing garbage players because they're grizzled veterans? His obvious favoring certain players he likes over potentially useful new blood? His seeming abandonment of a style and system that won us 2 cups? Frankly, I used to think he was a great coach but honestly, to me he just isn't the same coach he was. It's not just that his time is up, it's that I really don't see him coaching the same. I don't see the skillful adjustments anymore, I see mashing up lines and Byslmagic ****.